MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics (DPR and LPR) should remain part of Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Russian government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta posted on its website.

"At all levels - by means of statements on the part of the Russian president, in other formats - we have been saying that we are for them to become part of Ukraine," Lavrov said.

"They have now submitted their draft of the constitution. In it, they are talking about the status envisioned by the Minsk agreements: the republics will be part of Ukraine, and then there will be a constitutional reform to secure that status on a permanent basis," he said.

Lavrov said the commitment was paraphed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.

Poroshenko acceptable figure for dialogue

Lavrov noted that Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko is an acceptable figure for a dialogue.

"He is the president and is to be supported," he noted, explaining his position.

He said he shared a point of view that the Ukrainian leader was, to a certain extent, "playing the card" between the European Union and the United States. "It is vital for him to prevent the Americans from working against him," Lavrov noted.

At the same time, according to the Russian top diplomat, when Poroshenko "is speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone or during, for instance, the Normandy-format talks, he tries to be pragmatic, to solve certain issues."